Women to Watch in Indonesia

ByShibani Mahtani

Rights activists have long complained that women are under-represented in Southeast Asian companies and governments, and Indonesia is no exception. A 2011 report into boardroom diversity across the world by the U.K. government found that women occupy 4.1% of the board seats at Indonesian companies. As of 2009, women made up just 18% of the country’s legislators, according to a United Nations study.

Activists also argue that outdated attitudes toward women persist in the archipelago nation, even though a woman was president in the early part of the last decade and the economy is modernizing rapidly. Indonesian legislators drew fire earlier this year for suggesting that authorities ban miniskirts in parliament to prevent “untoward acts” by their male colleagues – an idea many Indonesians thought highlighted archaic attitudes toward gender. The rule never passed. Serious problems with sex tourism, human trafficking and domestic violence also remain.

Nevertheless, a number of enterprising women are breaking through boundaries in business and political circles, providing new role models for younger women in the country. At the same time, social media is empowering women to press for more opportunities and combat negative stereotypes.

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Here is the WSJ’s pick of some of the most influential women making waves in the fast-changing nation.

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